When Home is Nowhere to be Found
During Homelessness Week (3–9 August), Parramatta Mission is inviting the community to confront this reality through a new campaign that challenges how we see homelessness.
For many people, a home is a place of safety, belonging and rest. But for thousands of Australians, finding a safe place to sleep each night remains an impossible challenge.
During Homelessness Week (3–9 August), Parramatta Mission is inviting the community to confront this reality through a new campaign that challenges how we see homelessness.
‘The Unliveable Listings’ campaign uses the familiar language of property marketing to reveal the places where people experiencing homelessness are forced to sleep. Instead of homes and apartments, the listings feature real locations across Parramatta and Western Sydney where people are sleeping rough: an alcove beside a church, a concrete corner beneath an overpass, and a patch of grass beneath a footbridge.
The campaign presents these locations as if they were rental properties, complete with photographs and descriptions. But when people click through, they discover the reality behind the listing: no privacy, no security, no protection from the weather, and no dignity.
The price? Just $25 a week — the amount Parramatta Mission estimates can help provide practical support including emergency relief, meals, housing assistance and health referrals for people experiencing homelessness.
Parramatta Mission CEO and Lead Minister Geoff Smith said the campaign aimed to challenge the way people understand homelessness.
“Homelessness is not inevitable, and it is not simply a housing failure; it is a systemic failure,” he said.
“It occurs when housing, health, income, employment and social support systems fail to provide the stability people need to maintain a safe place to call home.”
Across New South Wales, the scale of the challenge is significant. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows that, each day, 59 people seeking support from specialist homelessness services are turned away because services have reached capacity. More than half of those people are already without shelter when they seek help.
In Parramatta alone, the 2025 Street Count identified 222 people experiencing homelessness. Across the state, more than 35,000 people are experiencing homelessness, including those sleeping rough, living in temporary accommodation, couch surfing or living in severely overcrowded conditions.
Behind these numbers are people with stories, families and hopes for the future.
“Behind every statistic is a person,” Mr Smith said. “A family living in their car after rent hikes, an older woman choosing between food and shelter, or a worker who simply cannot keep up with the cost of living.”
For more than 50 years, Parramatta Mission has responded to these realities by providing practical support and pathways towards stability. Over the past year, the organisation provided more than 80,000 meals and facilitated more than 1,200 care service connections while experiencing a 40 per cent increase in demand for assistance.
The campaign’s message is also a reminder that addressing homelessness requires more than emergency responses. It requires communities, governments, businesses and individuals to work together to create lasting solutions.
For the Uniting Church, this work is central to its calling to stand alongside people experiencing hardship and advocate for a society where everyone has the opportunity to flourish.
Jesus’ ministry consistently placed people experiencing poverty and exclusion at the centre — reminding us that every person deserves compassion, dignity and belonging.
As Homelessness Week calls communities to take “Homelessness Action Now”, ‘The Unliveable Listings’ asks an important question: what would we accept as a home for ourselves or our loved ones?
The answer should challenge all of us to keep working towards a future where everyone has a safe place to call home.
